Heating system utilizing waste heat from illuminating device

ABSTRACT

A heating system utilizing waste heat from illuminating device includes at least one illuminating device and a water supply device. The illuminating device has at least one light-emitting module, which has one side in contact with at least one heat-dissipation device. The heat-dissipation device and the water supply device are connected to each other via a pipeline. Water is supplied by the water supply device to the heat-dissipation device for directly absorbing heat that is transferred from the light-emitting module to the heat-dissipation device and accordingly cooling the heat-dissipation device. The heat-absorbed water is then delivered via the pipeline to a water reservoir for people to use. Thus, waste heat produced by the illuminating device is effectively converted into a usable energy source to be fully utilized.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a heating system utilizing waste heat from illuminating device, and more particularly to a heating system that utilizes heat energy in the waste heat produced by an illuminating device to heat water and supplies the heated water to the general public for use, so as to achieve the purpose of converting the waste heat from the illuminating device into a useful energy source.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

For the current street lamps to meet the requirements of environmental protection, energy saving, and carbon reduction, conventional light emitting elements for the street lamps, such as halogen lamps, have been gradually replaced by light-emitting diodes (LED) lamps.

LED has been widely applied in many different fields since it was developed in 1955.

The working principle of an LED lamp is to convert electric energy into light energy. To manufacture an LED, first, group V elements, such as N, P, As and the like, and group III elements, such as Al, Ga, In and the like, are subjected to, for example, liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) or vapor phase epitaxy (VPE) to produce a group III-V compound semiconductor, such as GaP or GaAs, for use as a substrate. Then, a voltage is applied to an anode and a cathode of the substrate. When electric current flows through the substrate, electrons and holes combine with one another. At this point, the electrons fall into a lower energy level and accordingly, release surplus energy in the form of photons, that is, to emit light.

An LED street lamp is apparently advantageous in terms of its low power consumption and accordingly high energy-saving effect. However, the LED street lamp has the problem of heat dissipation, which has important influence on the design of the LED street lamp and seriously prevents the LED street lamp from being widely adopted. The heat produced by the illuminating LED must be timely removed from the street lamp. Currently, the heat produced by the LED street lamp is removed or dissipated mainly by air cooling. In air cooling, a heat sink is used to increase the heat-radiating area of the LED street lamp, and a cooling fan can be further installed to enable forced heat dissipation. A street lamp using multi-chip LED would produce more heat and therefore requires more efficient heat dissipation device to dissipate the produced heat. For this purpose, a water-cooling module is usually used to remove the heat produced by the multi-chip LED. The water-cooling module functions by circulating water through the multi-chip LED to absorb heat produced by the multi-chip LED and thereby cool the latter. The heat-absorbed water becomes heated and flows back to the water-cooling module. Since there is still difficulty in widely promoting the application of water cooling, most of the current LED street lamps are generally air-cooled. In brief, the conventional LED street lamp has the drawbacks of (1) low heat dissipation efficiency; and (2) failing to effectively utilize the produced heat thereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To overcome the drawbacks in the conventional LED street lamp, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a heating system utilizing waste heat from illuminating device, so that waste heat produced by LED or LEDs in an illuminating device can be converted into a useful energy source for heating water.

To achieve the above and other objects, the heating system according to the present invention includes at least one illuminating device and a water supply device. The illuminating device is provided with at least one light-emitting module that has one side in contact with at least one heat-dissipation device. The water supply device includes a pressurizing unit connected to a water source. The heat-dissipation device and the water supply device are connected to each other via a pipeline, so that water is supplied from the water supply device to directly cool the heat-dissipation device. Water that has been used to cool the heat-dissipation device is heated and supplied to, for example, a water reservoir for use by people. In this manner, waste heat produced by the illuminating device is effectively utilized as an energy source.

In brief, the present invention has the following advantages: (1) making good utilization of waste energy; and (2) achieving the purpose of carbon reduction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a heating system utilizing waste heat from illuminating device according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an assembled view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 schematically shows a first embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 schematically shows a second embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention provides a heating system utilizing waste heat from illuminating device. FIGS. 1 and 2 are exploded and assembled perspective views, respectively, of the heating system 1 according to the present invention. As shown, the heating system 1 includes at least one illuminating device 11, a water supply device 12, and a pipeline 13.

The illuminating device 11 is provided with at least one light-emitting module 111, one side of which is in contact with at least one heat-dissipation device 112. The illuminating device 11 includes a support portion 11 a and an illuminating portion 11 b. In an embodiment of the present invention, the illuminating device 11 is a street lamp, the support portion 11 a is a street lamp post having a mounting end fixedly mounted on the ground, and the illuminating portion 11 b is a lamp shade fixed to another end of the street lamp post opposite to the mounting end. The light-emitting module 111 is internally assembled to the lamp shade.

In the present invention, the light-emitting module 111 is an LED module. The LED module includes at least a base 1111 and at least an LED lamp 1112 mounted on one side of the base 1111.

The heat-dissipation device 112 has an inlet 1121, an outlet 1122, and a water holding space 1123. The inlet 1121 and the outlet 1122 are communicable with the water holding space 1123.

The water supply device 12 includes a pressurizing unit 121 connected to a water source 122. The pressurizing unit 121 can be a pump, and the water source 122 can be a tap water pipeline or a water tower. While the present invention is described with the water source as a tap water pipeline, it is understood the water source is not necessarily limited to a tap water pipeline but can be in other forms. The water source is mainly used to supply water needed to remove the heat produced by the light-emitting module 111.

The pipeline 13 connects the heat-dissipation device 112 to the water supply device 12.

Please refer to FIG. 3, which schematically shows a heating system utilizing waste heat from illuminating device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the heating system 1 is formed of one illuminating device 11, one water supply device 12, and at least one pipeline 13. The pipeline 13 is provided mainly for connecting the water supply device 12 to the illuminating device 11. The light-emitting module 111 of the illuminating device 11 produces a large amount of heat while illuminating. The produced heat is transferred to the heat-dissipation device 112 and then carried away from the heat-dissipation device 112 by water flowing therethrough, so as to achieve the purpose of heat dissipation. The inlet 1121 and the outlet 1122 of the heat-dissipation device 112 communicate with the water supply device 12 via the pipeline 13. The water supply device 12 supplies and delivers water to the water holding space 1123 of the heat-dissipation device 112 via the inlet 1121. The water circulates in the water holding space 1123 to absorb the heat transferred from the light-emitting module 111 to the heat-dissipation device 112 and accordingly carries heat away from the latter. The heat-absorbed water is hot and moves out of the heat-dissipation device 112 via the outlet 1122, and is then delivered via the pipeline 13 to places requiring hot water for use.

FIG. 4 schematically shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, the heating system 1 includes a plurality of illuminating devices 11, which are serially connected to one another by the pipeline 13. Water supplied from the water supply device 12 to the illuminating devices 11 via the pipeline 13 circulates in the water holding spaces 1123 of the heat-dissipation devices 112 to absorb the heat produced by the light-emitting modules 111 and transferred to the heat-dissipation devices 112, so as to cool the latter. The heat-absorbed water is hot and moves out of the heat-dissipation devices 112 via the outlets 1122, and is then delivered via the pipeline 13 to places requiring hot water. For example, the pipeline 13 can be led to houses or a water reservoir 2 for use by people, so that people needs not to heat water by consuming other energy sources and the purpose of saving energy can be achieved. 

1. A heating system utilizing waste heat from illuminating device, comprising: at least one illuminating device provided with at least one light-emitting module; the light-emitting module having one side in contact with at least one heat-dissipation device; a water supply device having a pressurizing unit connected to a water source; and a pipeline connecting the heat-dissipation device to the water supply device.
 2. The heating system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the illuminating device is a street lamp and includes a support portion and an illuminating portion; the support portion being a street lamp post having a mounting end, and the illuminating portion being a lamp shade fixed to another end of the street lamp post opposite to the mounting end; and the light-emitting module being internally assembled to the lamp shade.
 3. The heating system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pressurizing unit is a pump.
 4. The heating system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the water source is selected from the group consisting of a tap water pipeline and a water reservoir.
 5. The heating system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the light-emitting module is an LED module, and the LED module including at least one base and at least one LED lamp.
 6. The heating system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the light-emitting module is an LED module, and the LED module including at least one base and at least one LED lamp.
 7. The heating system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heat-dissipation device includes an inlet, an outlet, and a water holding space; and the inlet and the outlet being communicable with the water holding space. 